Article by Greg Jaklewicz
Photos Courtesy of BigCountryBlitz.com and WylieSports.com
Dawg Bites
Wylie quarterback Jadin Karleskint throws for 246 yards, runs for 65, and hits three touchdown passes.
Cooper quarterback Jaden Carrillo throws for 86 yards, runs for 126, and accounts for three TDs.
Wylie scores on a pair of one-play drives — 81 and 21 yards.
The Third Time Wasn’t the Charm
After converting two fourth-down plays — one a scramble on a dropped punt snap — on a clock-eating fourth quarter drive, Cooper was stopped on a 4th-and-7 play from its 23 when Wylie’s aptly named Cooper Hill made the key tackle of the game short of the first-down stick.
The Bulldogs, leading 29-22, ran out the final 6:25 of the game to take a crucial District 2-5A victory Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
The win puts Wylie — for the moment — atop the district standings at 2-0. The Bulldogs are ahead of two 1-0 teams — surprising Plainview, which was open, and Amarillo Palo Duro, which crushed Memorial in Wichita Falls 48-6.
Wylie meets 4-1 Palo Duro next in Amarillo.
“A Privilege to Play”
The game was all fans could’ve wanted.
“No doubt. That’s the thing we talked about at halftime, how much fun this is to get to play in a game like this. It’s a privilege,” Wylie coach Clay Martin said.
“A lot of momentum-swinging plays, and we called some of them. We kept our composure. It was a very hard-fought football game.
They played really well, and so did we.”
Two Drives, 15:37 Off the Clock
In a game that featured several beautifully executed big plays, it was Hill’s sideline tackle of Peyton Ewing that was monumental. Cooper quarterback Jaden Carrillo passed short to Ewing, who had 101 rushing yards, but Wylie’s Cooper wrapped up the receiver after a 3-yard gain.
“I read it perfectly. We were working on it all week in practice, when that goes out on the weak side,” Hill said. “It was perfect.”
Martin credited his coaches for making adjustments at halftime.
“I thought coach (Matt) Kates and our defensive staff did a great job at halftime, coming up with a plan, but the kids have to go out there and execute it,” Martin said. “I thought we tackled better in the second half.
I was really proud of how the guys responded to adversity throughout the night.”
Hill agreed.
“The coaches showed us what we need to adjust on,” he said. “And we did it.”
The game was far from over, but after Cooper had just taken a whopping 9:12 off the clock, Wylie took the final 6:25.
Running back Julius Laine got the yard needed on third down, pushing the pile forward.
Quarterback Jadin Karleskint got 7 yards and a first down on 3rd-and-5, stumbling ahead after being tripped.
Karleskint rambled for 11 yards for a first down to the Cooper 22.
“The O-line came up huge in the second half helping us run. I was really proud of those guys,” said Karleskint, who passed only three times in the second half.
Ironically, his favorite run of the game might have been the 9-yard loss that took the final seconds of the game. Thus ended a game that was as entertaining as promised, and Wylie extended its winning streak to four games in the Southtown Showdown.
Thunder Came Last
Football fan Charles Dickens would’ve called it “A Tale of Two Halves.”
The first half featured 44 points, two touchdowns of more than 50 yards, and six possessions each for the Bulldogs and the Coogs.
The teams combined for six possessions in the second half — and only one touchdown.
Few could have imagined that Laine’s 12-yard, stiff-arming run with 6:40 left in the third quarter would be the difference-maker.
That touchdown came after Wylie stopped Cooper on its opening possession when Carrillo was stripped of the football at the Wylie sideline. Jordan Lockett recovered at the Bulldogs’ 43.
The Bulldogs then went 57 yards the other way in six plays, with two Karleskint passes to hard-to-tackle Dylan Regala gaining 32 yards.
Wylie made that one score stand up, despite wasting a chance to add insurance.
“When the pocket collapses, you’ve got to make a play,” said Karleskint. “Get what we can and keep the sticks moving.”
Facing third down at the 1, Wylie was flagged for a pre-snap penalty. A pass fell incomplete, and instead of taking a 32-22 lead, the hold was fumbled and Noah Rehburg never attempted the kick.
Cooper then launched the 9-minute-plus drive that ended with Hill’s game-saving tackle.
“That drive was so long. We were all out of breath but we were going as hard as we could every single play,” Hill said.
Carrillo accounted for 215 of Cooper’s 404 yards, while Wylie rotated players up front to contain him.
“(Carrillo) really gave us a lot of problems in the first half,” Martin said. “We were able to keep him bottled up in the second half. I was proud of the heart they showed.”
Lightning Came First
The fiercely played second half overshadowed a highlight-reel first half — lightning before the thunder.
Cooper struck first with an 81-yard opening drive capped by Carrillo’s 55-yard touchdown run.
One drive later, Wylie answered with an 81-yard strike from Karleskint to Blaze Ruffin.
As if to prove it wasn’t a fluke, Wylie did it again. After Regala’s 40-yard punt return, Karleskint hit Michael Pena-Perez for a 21-yard score.
Cooper responded with two quick scores to take a 22-14 lead, but Wylie fired back with a five-play, 56-yard drive capped by a 35-yard screen to Laine and a two-point run by Regala to tie it at 22.
The half ended with a wild sequence:
“Longest. Play. Ever.”
With no rush, Carrillo stood in the pocket for what felt like forever before finally launching a Hail Mary that Wylie’s Ruffin knocked away at the goal line.
“We talked about keeping him corralled back there … but maybe not quite like that,” Martin joked. “Yeah, maybe the longest play ever in high school football history.”
Yardstick
Category | Wylie | Cooper |
---|---|---|
First downs | 16 | 15 |
Rushing | 32-111 | 42-315 |
Passing | 12-16-0 | 9-17-0 |
Passing yards | 246 | 89 |
Total offense | 357 | 404 |
Punting | 1-32.0 | 2-36 |
Fumbles/lost | 2-0 | 3-1 |
Penalties | 2-15 | 5-31 |
Scoring Summary
Cooper 7 15 0 0 — 22
Wylie 7 15 7 0 — 29
1st Quarter
CHS – Carrillo 55 run (Asumani kick), 7:20
Wylie – Ruffin 81 pass from Karleskint (Rehburg kick), 1:04
2nd Quarter
Wylie – Pena-Perez 21 pass from Karleskint (Rehburg kick), 11:55
CHS – Johnson 11 pass from Carrillo (Caspell run), 8:49
CHS – Carrillo 10 run (Asumani kick), 3:09
Wylie – Laine 25 pass from Karleskint (Regala run), 1:46
3rd Quarter
Wylie – Laine 12 run (Rehburg kick), 6:40
Wylie Individual Stats
Rushing: Laine 17-75-1; Karleskint 9-65; Regala 2-5; Jones 1-2; Team 3–(-36)
Passing: Karleskint 12-16-246-0-3
Receiving: Regala 4-48; Ruffin 3-119; Laine 2-36; Kidman 2-22; Pena-Perez 1-21
District 2-5A Standings
Team | District | Season |
---|---|---|
Wylie | 2-0 (74-46) | 4-2 (203-136) |
Amarillo Palo Duro | 1-0 (48-6) | 4-1 (166-37) |
Plainview | 1-0 (37-22) | 2-2 (203-211) |
Lubbock-Cooper | 1-1 (71-63) | 4-2 (250-200) |
Abilene Cooper | 1-1 (65-56) | 2-4 (220-155) |
WF Memorial | 0-2 (33-90) | 4-2 (200-178) |
WF Legacy | 0-2 (50-94) | 1-5 (95-257) |
Week 6 Scores
Wylie 29, Abilene Cooper 22
Lubbock-Cooper 49, Wichita Falls Legacy 26
Palo Duro 48, Wichita Falls Memorial 6
Plainview open
Week 7 Schedule
Wylie at Amarillo Palo Duro
Lubbock-Cooper at Abilene Cooper
Plainview at WF Legacy
WF Memorial open